Indian River's unemployment rate drops to lowest point in more than four years

Here is a list of the industries on the Treasure Coast, and how many jobs each sector gained or lost, compared to a year ago.

Professional services: 1,100

Education, health services: 700

Leisure, hospitality: 700

Other services: 200

Mining, construction: 200

Retail trade: 100

Financial activities: 100

Manufacturing: 0

Transportation, utilities: -100

Government: -200

Wholesale trade: -200

Information: -200

Total: 2,400

Indian River County's unemployment rate dipped last month to its lowest point in more than four years, data released Friday by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity show.

With almost 900 more county residents working in February than the month before, Indian River County's jobless rate fell from 9.5 percent in January to 8.9 percent in February, the county's lowest rate since it was 8.1 percent in June 2008.

Despite the drop, Indian River County had the 10th highest rate among Florida's 67 counties, down from ninth the month before, because rates fell in all but one county.

Baker County in northeast Florida saw its unemployment rate rise to 7.4 percent from 7.1 percent in January.

St. Lucie County's rate dropped to 9.5 percent from 10.2 percent the previous month, while Martin County's rate went to 7.6 percent from 8.2 percent in January. Those counties' rates also were the lowest since mid-2008.

The Treasure Coast's combined rate (8.8 percent) for February also fell seven-tenths of a percentage point from the previous month and was two percentage points lower than a year ago.

In Indian River County, an estimated 406 more residents had jobs in February than a year ago, but the number of people unemployed and actively seeking work was 1,010 lower because about 600 people left the county's workforce.

Still, though, that meant about 5,626 residents who were unemployed and actively searching for a job couldn't find one. Whether a person is eligible for or receiving unemployment compensation or other benefits is not a factor in whether that person is counted among the unemployed.

Based on recent history, February is typically a month when unemployment rates come down on the Treasure Coast. The rates fell by the same amount last February in Indian River and St. Lucie counties, though Martin County's decline last year was only half as much as this February's.

Gov. Rick Scott on Friday said that since December 2010, Florida has created 294,200 private-sector jobs and Florida's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 7.7 percent in February was the lowest since October 2008. Scott made the announcement at Amcor Rigid Plastics USA Inc. in Orlando, a plastics manufacturing company that opened a new 500,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in January, hiring 29 employees with a capital investment of $20 million.

During February, the state experienced an increase of 7,700 private-sector jobs, while 139,200 private-sector jobs have been created since February 2012. Since Scott took office, the state's unemployment rate has dropped 3.4 percentage points, the second-largest drop in the nation.